Pathways to new drug discovery in neuropsychiatry.
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Expert commentary and narrative opinion with no original human data or systematic synthesis.
PubMed 23194414 · doi:10.1186/1741-7015-10-151
What was done
This is an expert commentary evaluating the ongoing slowdown in neuropsychiatric drug discovery. It discusses conceptual and methodological issues, including diagnostic classification, participant selection criteria in clinical trials, and strategies for identifying novel pharmacological targets.
What was found
The abstract reports no empirical data or quantitative findings. It conceptually notes that traditional discovery relied on serendipity and incremental chemical modifications, points to drug repurposing (such as sulfonylurea and metformin potentially reducing affective disorder risk), and highlights biomarker targeting and genetic pathways as promising but developing approaches.
Why it matters
The piece outlines key bottlenecks in CNS pharmacology and advocates for shifting from conventional trial design toward biomarker-targeted and data-driven drug discovery paradigms.
Limits
This is a narrative commentary representing expert opinion, presenting no new human data, clinical trials, or systematic review methodology.
Cited by
- supports Since the 1970s, very few new pharmacological treatments have been developed in psychiatry compared to other fields of medicine.